Friday, October 17, 2008

Media Matters Daily Summary 10-17-08

Ignoring its own reporting, NY Times omitted key facts on ACORN voter registration allegations
The New York Times quoted Sen. John McCain's assertion during the third presidential debate that ACORN was "on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country," but ignored key facts, including that the statutes of most of the states in which ACORN allegedly submitted false or duplicate voter registration applications this year require third parties registering prospective voters to submit all forms they receive, or that actual instances of illegal votes being cast as a result of registration fraud are extremely rare. Read More

KSFO's Rodgers said many "professed leaders of the feminist movement" are "hags" who "couldn't get laid in a men's prison"
On the October 17 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, Rodgers said: "[Y]ou look at many -- perhaps most -- but many of the women who are professed leaders of the feminist movement in this country, and they're a bunch of hags." He added: "They couldn't get laid in a men's prison, let's be honest about it." Read More

Wash. Post omits McCain campaign's role in robocalls attacking "Obama's connections to terrorists"
The Washington Post reported that "[t]he Republican National Committee has also begun making automated phone calls in Virginia and in other battleground states that talk about Obama's connections to 'terrorists,' " but not that Sen. John McCain's campaign also paid for the calls. Read More

In reporting on Letterman appearance, media fail to note other aspects of Liddy's controversial past
In reporting on Sen. John McCain's October 16 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, several media outlets noted McCain's response to a question about his association with Watergate break-in figure G. Gordon Liddy that Liddy "paid his debt, he went to prison." However, none of these outlets noted other controversial actions by Liddy, which McCain did not mention, let alone denounce, on Letterman's show, including multiple instances of reportedly advising his radio show audience on the best way to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents -- statements that were reportedly made long after Liddy left prison. Read More

Reporting on McCain's Late Show appearance, MSNBC's Hall omitted Letterman's reference to Liddy-McCain link
MSNBC's Tamron Hall aired a clip of Sen. John McCain apologizing on CBS' Late Show for having canceled an earlier planned appearance and reported on McCain's attack on Sen. Barack Obama for his association with William Ayers. But Hall failed to note that Late Show host David Letterman questioned McCain on his association with G. Gordon Liddy. Read More

Selectively citing Gallup poll's findings, Morning Joe joined Drudge Report in touting "Gallup shock"
MSNBC's Morning Joe echoed the Drudge Report by displaying the on-screen text "Gallup shock" and selectively citing only one of three findings from an October 13-15 Gallup daily tracking poll of the presidential race -- the one that showed Sen. Barack Obama holding his smallest lead over Sen. John McCain. Read More

Wash. Post uncritically reported McCain's attack on Obama for "wanting to raise taxes" on Americans like Joe the Plumber
The Washington Post reported that Sen. John McCain "railed against [Sen. Barack] Obama for wanting to raise taxes" and uncritically quoted McCain's attack that Obama would raise taxes on Americans like "Joe the Plumber," a reference to Sam Joe Wurzelbacher. However, the Post did not point out that, according to Wurzelbacher himself, he would not be subject to a tax increase under Obama's proposal. Obama has proposed cutting taxes for low- and middle-income families and raising taxes only on households earning more that $250,000 per year. Read More

USA Today cited "accusations of voter fraud and voter suppression" but omitted examples of voter suppression
USA Today reported, "Less than three weeks before the November election, the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns are trading accusations of voter fraud and voter suppression and gearing up for possible court battles over the outcome." The rest of USA Today's report focused on allegations that ACORN demonstrated "a pattern of submitting fraudulent voter registrations," providing no examples of allegations of voter suppression, even though there have been numerous reported instances in battleground states. Read More

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